How Pilates Complements Osteopathy and Physiotherapy for Holistic Healing
When it comes to our body’s health, you might be surprised how important it is to balance treatments with mindful exercise. Whether you’ve recently experienced an injury or you’re living with chronic pain, Pilates can be a great complement to osteopathy and physiotherapy treatments. But how can these different approaches work together?
In this article, we’ll outline what each of these treatments and exercise practices are and how they overlap in supporting your health and recovery.
For personalised advice, contact our team at 13th Beach Health Services today.
What is Pilates?
Pilates is a form of exercise that focuses on conditioning and strengthening the body through careful, mindful techniques. While any exercise can improve your fitness and health, Pilates utilises different techniques to increase muscle strength, flexibility and balance.
Likewise, Pilates focuses on repetition to create results. Utilising low-impact stretches and exercises to affect the body and improve its health and function. Pilates also has a heavy focus on mindfulness and improving your mental health, much like yoga.
While treatment can be tailored to your needs, Pilates is accessible to anyone. No matter your concerns, you can pursue this exercise at your own pace.
Understanding Osteopathy and Physiotherapy
Osteopathy and physiotherapy are both professions that focus on supporting the body and helping it recover from injury or improve function through manual therapy. Where they differ is in their approach. Osteopathy takes a more holistic stance on your health, assessing the entire body and how each system interacts to create a full understanding of your needs.
With this understanding, an osteopath will tailor treatment to suit your needs. However, this may not focus directly on your main concern. Instead, an osteopath will work to improve your overall health, treating sometimes seemingly unrelated areas to get the desired result.
In opposition to this, physiotherapy assesses the body to find the cause of your concern and then tailors treatments to target it directly. While physiotherapy can employ a variety of treatments, it mostly utilises a tailored exercise regime to support your body and encourage it to recover.
Combining Pilates With Treatment
Holistic healing is about addressing all the different needs a person may have to encourage their recovery. For instance, your physical well-being can be informed and affected by your mental and emotional well-being. This is where Pilates can become a crucial addition to your treatment plan.
Osteopathy and physiotherapy, both use practical treatments to help your body recover. They can be used to treat a variety of concerns from headaches and injury to chronic pain and arthritis. Combining your treatment with Pilates can also help to strengthen your body improving your overall physical health. However, where it stands out is its use of mindfulness practices.
Mental Health and Recovery
By improving your mental well-being you can help your body feel better on several levels. It can increase your motivation to pursue the treatment you need, ensuring your body is on the path to recovery.
It can also help reduce stress, and anxiety which can help you feel more in control of your body. This can make your recovery journey feel more manageable and even give you the confidence to speak out about your health more so that you get the right support.
Likewise, reduced stress can help relieve tension in your muscles, reducing the strain on your body and some of the pain you may be experiencing.
Physical Fitness and Health
While mental health can be crucial, physical well-being should also be addressed. While osteopathy and physiotherapy are manual therapies that improve the function of the body, Pilates supports overall fitness.
By improving your overall fitness, you can reduce your chances of future injury. This can make managing your health a lot easier and support your treatment after it finishes.
Likewise, Pilates can help improve your awareness of how your body moves and functions. This can make it easier to avoid overstrain and injury as well as help you identify problems in your body as soon as they occur. This can then make it easier for you to get treatment sooner.
Get the Support You Need in One Place
Are you currently living with chronic pain or trying to recover from an injury? Our team at 13th Beach Health Services can help you get back to what you love doing most. With years of experience, we can assess your body to determine which treatments suit your needs.
Likewise, we offer Mat Pilates classes run by one of our trusted practitioners to further support you. At our clinic, you can trust us not to overlook any part of your health.